Burial: After 4 December 1794; Moffatt-Strong-McDill Cemetery, Chester County, South Carolina, USAB7,5

Note: In their book McDills in America, Robert and Iva Woods relate the following tale: "On the way to America from Ireland, the crew of their ship mutinied and threw the captain overboard, and the First Mate took command. The First Mate and crew planned to take the passengers to Bermuda and sell them into slavery. As Thomas McDill had had some previous experience as a sailor, he was pressed into service and in mixing with the crew learned of their plans. He told his fellow immigrants and under his leadership the crew was overpowered and put in irons. Thomas McDill sailed the ship to America, landing in Charleston. (Some accounts indicate that they landed either in New York or in Chesapeake Bay and spent some time in Pennsylvania before going to South Carolina). They settled on Little Rocky Creek, where Thomas had a grant of land from the King of England."

In his Last Will & Testament, Thomas names his wife Margaret; sons John, George, Samuel, Thomas, James, David, and Alexander; daughters Margaret and Janet; as well as nephews William and David Moffat (probably the sons born in 1786 and 1789, respectively, to William Moffet and Barbara Chestnut). Thomas’s brother-in-law James Chestnut and son John McDill were named executor; James Brown (possibly the father-in-law of Thomas's son, John), James Chesnut, and Andrend Grahan witnessed the signing of the will.

Citations

[S546] Ancestry.com, 1790 United States Federal Census, First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C, Year: 1790; Census Place: Chester, South Carolina; Series: M637; Roll: 11; Page: 185; Image: 120; Family History Library Film: 0568151, Record for Thomas Mcdill

[S425] Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Source number: 23151.002; Source type: Family group sheet, FGSE, listed as parents; Number of Pages: 1, Record for Thomas Mcdill

[S553] Ancestry.com, South Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980, South Carolina County, District and Probate Courts, South Carolina Will Transcripts, 1782-1868; Author: Wates, Wylma Anne; Probate Place: Chester, South Carolina, Record for Thomas McDill

[S260] Robert McDill Woods and Iva Godfrey Woods, McDills in America: A History of the Descendents of John McDill and Janet Leslie of County Antrim, Ireland, page 4